Eating Locally - Moo-juice!!

Fridays are pick-up days for the local farm where we buy our milk and cheese. This has been a new addition to my local diet experiment. In February, I started asking around and searching the internet for dairy farms in the area. The trouble was, I wanted to be able to pick up supplies in town rather than taking trips each week (milk would be healthier for me and the Earth, but I'd be releasing carbon emissions into the atmosphere and spending extra money on gas to drive out of town to pick up each week - Being simple, green and frugal can be tricky at times).

Then at lunch with a friend last month, we were trading tips on being green when she mentioned getting her milk at a local dairy. She immediately had my full attention. Rather than individual families going out to the farm each week, Sand Creek Farm and Dairy (located in Cameron) has a driver that picks up for the BCS area. So the milk could come to me! Sweet!

As soon as we got home, I hopped right on to the computer to see what I could find out about Sand Creek. From their website, I found out that they are a licensed raw milk producer, they tend to their farm naturally (they even use horses to pull plows instead of tractors!), and they have a wide range of products that are available for sale (meat, honey, and veggies too!). Their email address was available for any further questions, so I quickly took advantage. I had so many questions, being new to all this, and the owners were really nice about answering each and every one of them.

Here's how it works:

1. You pay an initial $25, one-time fee to be a member.
2. Place an order for the month detailing what you would like to receive each week (For instance, our regular order will end up being 4 gal of whole milk per month (1 per week) and 1 lb of gouda cheese on the first Friday of each month.)
3. Payments are made to the farm at the beginning of each month (I get an email with the bill and then mail a check).
4. Once a week, on Fridays, a driver makes a run to Cameron to pick up orders for the 24 local families that are signed up (for this she charges a $15/mo fee from each family).
5. The families all meet at a designated point on Friday afternoons, sometimes hanging out to talk for a bit, and pick up that week's food supplies.
   
6. Go home and drink yummy milk all week, or make yogurt or dip cookies........

This all means that I do have to drive once a week, but I like the idea of supporting a local farm vs. the grocery and of course, there's the assurance that the animals aren't feed-lotted or anything like that. It's just good healthy milk. As far as the driving goes, once a week for a good cause isn't really so bad, right? And the milk is so sweet and creamy. Hmm. I think I'm going to need another chocolate chip cookie....

Have a great weekend and don't forget that the BCS Earth Day Celebration is today, April 19 at Veterans Park!